Broncos, Fans Embrace the Rain

The Broncos faced wet and slippery conditions on Wednesday as they practiced on a rain-soaked Sports Authority Field.

DENVER- The Broncos had a change of pace on Wednesday as they braved 60 degree weather with heavy rain and winds during their practice at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Peyton Manning said the weather provided tough conditions for the team, but that hopefully they can learn from it.

“You don’t get many opportunities to work in weather like this. Oftentimes it just doesn’t present itself so hopefully the work in today’s elements will help us during the season,” Manning said. “You never know what kind of weather you’re going to face during the course of a 16-game season so hopefully we can find some benefits out of this. But hopefully the field didn’t get torn up too much either. But hopefully there’s a positive to come from this.”

Head Coach John Fox said the rain was “good for us in all three phases” and usually when rain affects practice the team is pushed inside due to lightning. He felt the team handled the conditions “pretty well.”

Practices at Dove Valley have been hot, so today’s conditions were a drastic change for the team. When asked if he would prefer hot conditions to today’s, Julius Thomas was resolute.

“I would have taken the 100 and sweaty,” Thomas said. “It’s a little different to be in 60 degrees and rain and wind in the end of July but it’s part of the game, we played through it and everybody stayed focused.”

Thomas said part of being a professional athlete is the ability to make adjustments based on unforeseen conditions.

“It’s fun when you get to run around and get wet a little bit but when you’re trying to execute your job and your coach is expecting it to look the same way as it does when it’s dry, it gets a little bit tougher but we always have a good time and we enjoy practice and getting better,” Thomas said.

He said growing up in California, he would rarely see rain and when he would attend 49ers practices, temperatures would be up to 110 degrees. He was appreciative of the over 9,200 fans that went to practice and said “we’re looking forward to seeing them on Saturday.”

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Marvin Austin said about the fans. “I mean to be honest with you, I’ve played in New York for three years and this is the most fans that would ever be able to come to a practice there and the other scrimmage we had, where we came out here, 20,000 people is unheard of. So I can see this is a great place to play. I think No. 1 fans in football. Just to see people out here on a Wednesday in the rain, 9,000 people, that’s exceptional man. I’m enjoying myself here.”